Paula Nelson, an artist who is an Eastern Band Cherokee citizen contributed sketches of Te-lah-nay in three different concept drawings. Paula incorporated an ancient iconic symbol of “water as medicine” into each drawing. Te-lah-nay was also thought of as a healer for her people, so Paula’s decision to place her at the river makes cultural sense.
The river is a place of ritual for spiritual cleansing as well as physical cleansing. Paula’s career spans decades of studying iconography across tribal lines and time periods including pre-and post-contact Native American symbology. Tattooed on her wrist, she carries the symbol of water as medicine.
Paula’s work combined with our design team ultimately led to the logo for the Singing River Trail.
It made sense to incorporate a symbol for medicine into the bike trail logo since that is the essence of the Singing River Trail: Bringing medicine to the North Alabama region to encourage physical wellness, mental wellness and spiritual wellness.
